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As Derek Jeter strolls toward the plate, the announcer tosses out a smattering of statistics—from hitting streaks to batting averages. But what do the numbers mean? And how can America’s favorite pastime be a model for learning about statistics? Sandlot Stats is an innovative textbook that explains the mathematical underpinnings of baseball so that students can understand the world of statistics and probability.

Carefully illustrated and filled with exercises and examples, this book teaches the fundamentals of probability and statistics through the feats of baseball legends such as Hank Aaron, Joe DiMaggio, and Ted Williams—and more recent players such as Barry Bonds, Albert Pujols, and Alex Rodriguez. Exercises require only pen-and-paper or Microsoft Excel to perform the analyses.

Sandlot Stats offers information covered in most introductory statistics books, yet is peppered with interesting facts from the history of baseball to enhance the interest of the student and make learning fun.

Stanley Rothman is professor of mathematics at Quinnipiac University.

" Sandlot Stats served as an instrumental and informative piece to the Baseball Statistics course. The amount of time and tedious effort put into the project is evident, as this book is absolutely packed with information. The book puts a new spin on mathematics, and makes it more understandable for even the most casual of baseball fans. Baseball purists and sabermetric geeks alike will love this book."

— Jon Alba - Sports Paws

"Dr. Rothman has hit a 'home run.' Sandlot Stats: Learning Statistics with Baseball is not only a fine book to read, but a text which can also serve as an excellent resource book."

— Father Gabe Costa - CBS New York

"For those interested in this subject—this is your book."

— Harvey Frommer - Epoch Times

"If this had been the textbook for a basic statistics course that I took as a student, I might have remembered that course forever as the best class I ever had."

— Charles Ashbacher - MAA Reviews

" Sandlot Stats is a readable and resourceful introductory textbook for statistics."

— Graham Wheeler - Significance

"The book is very readable and well organized... High school statistics teachers could use this book as a course supplement or an enrichment source for sports-crazy students. Any college professor teaching a sports statistics course or looking for ways to enliven a traditional course would also find it interesting. Even baseball fans wanting to learn more about descriptive measures used in the game could benefit from Rothman's interesting exposition."